Cono de Arita
Salta Province, Argentina · 25°02′42″S 67°45′00″W
A near-perfect natural cone rising 120 m from the white floor of the Arizaro salt flat in the high Puna, so symmetrical it looks built.
The Cono de Arita is a body of dark volcanic rock that never fully erupted, exposed as the salt flat around it eroded flat. It stands alone on the Salar de Arizaro, the sixth largest salt flat on Earth, at 3,700 m, and from a distance is the only vertical thing for 30 km in any direction.
The surrounding Puna de Atacama holds other oddities: the Ojos de Mar salt lakes at Tolar Grande and the pumice field of Campo de Piedra Pómez.
Why it stays quiet
Reaching it means a multi-day trip on unpaved roads at altitude with no fuel or supplies en route. A few hundred people a year see it.
Where it is
Before you go
Acclimatise in Salta or San Antonio de los Cobres first. Carry all fuel, water and food. Nights drop well below freezing year-round.
Updated 2026-09-06 · Suggest a correction
Within 400 km
Tupiza
A small town in a valley of red rock spires and canyons in southern Bolivia, where Butch Cassidy's last robbery took place and horses are still the way to see the country.
- Coordinates
- 21°26′33″S 65°43′11″W
- Crowds
- Quiet
- Landscape
- Desert
- Best season
- Best in Shoulder